Closer each day
by searchforpurity
Summary: The story of Summer Bay continues... was A new life in Summer Bay
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Unfortunately don't own Home and Away or is characters. Summer Bay would be a bit different it I did!

However - all O.C.s are mine.

Have fun reading! please review... Will give _non-existant _chocolate!

**Chapter one**

Dan Baker and Barry Hyde had been sitting in the small neatly arranged office for fifteen minutes. They had chatted; first about who they were there to interview, and who they'd interviewed the day earlier, second about the wild weather Summer Bay had been experiencing of late, and thirdly they discussed how quickly the summer holidays had seemed to have flown by. However, for the last three minutes, the room had been filled with silence; - the awkward kind.

You see, Mr. Baker and Mr. Hyde were expecting company ten minutes ago.

Breaking the silence, a twenty-something year old woman with long brown hair and a large red handbag burst through the door, wearing an exhausted, but somewhat relieved smile.

The relatively short woman shook hands with Dan and Barry, telling them how sorry she was that she was late, and introducing herself as Lana Sadler. She pulled out a seat, sat herself down and dropped her oversized handbag beside her chair.

"Ms. Sadler," Principal Hyde Began, "Your resume is quite impressive…" 

Dan Baker had discovered something interesting while assisting Barry in interviewing those who applied for the position of drama teacher at Summer Bay High; drama teachers, as a general rule, are some of the most colorful people on earth. All of the applicants were filled to the brim with personality; none could possibly be classified as boring, not from where he sat, anyway. He pictured again the woman they'd interviewed the day before who had a cloud of lilac hair which rested atop her head and wore shockingly bright yellow ensemble. Barry had crossed her name off the list as soon as she'd introduced herself. His rejoinder was that her hair would encourage the students to dye their hair similar colors, however, Dan suspected that my Hyde may have been slightly intimidated.

"…Wouldn't you agree Dan?"

"Huh?... Pardon Barry?"

"I was just telling Ms. Sadler how Summer Bay High is a close knit family community-"

"Oh, yes. That's something we strive to maintain here, a comfortable, safe environment for the students," Dan replied, hoping it looked like he'd been listening all along.

Another example of crazy-drama-teacher-syndrome was that of another applicant; who would take the job on one condition - she must be allowed to take her pet chiwawa into each of her classes. Or the one who wore platform shoes, (making her tower over Dan) and who corrected Barry's inflection, which aggravated him slightly.

Lana Sadler chatted casually about her prior experience teaching in the city, She wore a grey jacket and skirt, with a blue blouse; her hair was neat, her face friendly. She looked very presentable, which was more than Dan could say for many of the flamboyantly attired applicants. She spoke with confidence, but didn't shove her personality down their throats like some had. First impressions were always important; - and Lana Sadler had made a good impression.

* * *

When Dan awoke on the morning of the first day of term, the first thing he was his wife of almost six months, Leah, wrapped up in a pink satin dressing gown and slippers that had cartoon dog faces on the front. This moment assured him, once again, that he was the luckiest man on the planet.

"Good morning, sunshine."

"Good morning," she replied. The morning sunlight caught her hair and it glistened gold. Her beauty often took his breath away. Unlike any other woman Dan had met, Leah had the amazing ability to wake up with every hair perfectly in place.

"There's fruit salad in the fridge, if you want it." She told him, cheerfully. He rolled out bed and followed her into the kitchen.

"How does a guy like me wind-up married to an angel like you?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"S'pose I can't help bad luck," she replied and he muttered that some questions are better left unanswered.

After a bowl of fruit salad, a whole heap of toast and the usual morning routine, Dan kissed his wife goodbye and drove to Summer Bay High for the first school-day this year, where he ran into newly appointed drama teacher, Lana Sadler, in the parking lot.

"Hello!" he called. "Fancy seeing you here!"

"Hey! Dan isn't it?"

"Sure is. Barry's asked me to show you around the place." He grinned as they entered. "G-block".

"Do you have any spares today?" Lana pulled the timetable Mr. Hyde had posted her, out of her brown jacket pocket. "Yeah, lessons 2,3,4, and 5."

"Well isn't that lucky I have a spare second. I'll give you" he paused for dramatic emphasis;" the grand tour,-the tour to end all tours- then, and just show you the basics now, okay?"

"Sounds good," she replied.

* * *

Storm clouds were building over Summer Bay as Lana sat staring out the staffroom window. It was hard to move away from the city, and her family had strongly opposed it first, but eventually they grew to accept it. It was especially hard for her to leave her mother, after all she'd done for her. 

"Hey" Dan said, walking into the gloomy room. "Are you okay?"

Thinking about her mother had watered the tears growing in her eyes. She quickly wiped them away.

"Yeah. Yeah, Im fine."

Dan shot her an unbelieving look.

She surrendered. "Oh, okay. I probably sound like a preschooler, saying this, but… I miss my mum- all my family in the city, im starting to doubt whether taking this job was the best thing to do; leaving mum after she gave so much for me. All my friends are in the city. The last week I have been so lonely in our flat." Tears were now streaming down her face, and her phrases her punctuated by sniffles "Im used to people everywhere, you know, but this last week it was just me and the TV."

"Oh, I see." Dan paused. "Listen, when you get home, call you mum, or a friend from the city, do you think that might make you feel a little better?"

"Yeah," she snuffled, and blew her nose on a pink tissue from a box on the desk on the desk she was perched upon.

"What are you doing on Saturday night?"

Lana looked slightly confused by this question before replying. "Nothing, I think" 

"Well, Leah and I are celebrating our 6 month wedding anniversary, and we're having a small group of friends around for dinner and drinks. You're very, very welcome to join us."

"Oh, I don't want to interfere on anything." She muttered and then blew her nose.

"No! You won't be interfering at all. Please come. We'd be honored to have your company- and you can meet some of the locals."

"I don't want to make any trouble-"

"No trouble at all, I assure you."

* * *

"You'll look after them won't you Alf?" Beth asked, standing on the dock. The last rays of the sun were bouncing off the calm water below.

"Of course, nothing I can't handle."

Cassie, Ric, Henry and Matilda stood on the small boat, all full of anticipation for the adventure they were soon to depart on.

"They've got to be back by eleven-thirty at the latest" Beth said "And if those two give you any trouble, I give my permission to ground them."

"Hopefully I won't need to make use of my power." Alf flinched.

"Are you feeling okay, Alf?"

"Yes. Im fine, so I'll bring these kids home by eleven-thirty."

"That'll be great. Thanks for this Alf." She said "See you all tonight."

* * *

"I brought a salad." Sally exclaimed as she entered the baker residence. Leah greeted her with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Where's Flynn?"

"He should be here in a bout twenty minutes."

At that moment a blonde haired man wearing a navy shirt and dark blue jeans walked through the door, holding a mobile phone to his ear.

"Yes," he said "I need that on my desk Monday morning…Of course. Okay. Bye"

Leah greeted him with a kiss on the cheek "Dan needs some help with the barbeque."

"Sure," he said. "by the way, happy anniversary."

"Thanks Peter" she replied and he left to help Dan. Just moments after, Lana arrived. Peeking her head through the door, she called, "knock-knock."

Sally waltzed over to answer. "Hello!"

"Hey Sally!" Lana grinned. She had met Sally at school- she was terribly friendly, and had made Lana feel very welcome.

Leah had followed her friend to the door.

"You must be Lana" she smiled. "Im Leah, Dan's wife. He's told me so much about you."

"Well, happy 6 month anniversary" she said, and pulled a large basket from behind her and handed it to Leah. Inside the basket were jars of exotic dips and jams, bottles of sauces, cheeses, crackers and herbs and spices. "Dan said you were a bit of a cook, I thought you both might enjoy these."

"It's...beautiful! Oh, wow!" Leah hugged Lana around the neck. "Thank you so much! You really shouldn't have…wow."

"Lana!"

"Hey Dan" she replied with a smile. Dan and Peter had entered from outside.

"I got the barbie fixed" he told Leah.

Peter cleared his throat. "Sorry, who fixed the barbeque?"

"Yeah, Peter helped a little."

"A little! Ha! Leah, Dan's village called, they want their village idiot back." He laughed.

"Well too bad," she said, and kissing him gently on the cheek. "He's my idiot now. Look at this!"

Leah showed Dan their anniversary present from Lana, describing the foodstuffs in ornate language. She hugged Lana again.

"Lets all go to the barbeque area then, eh?" Dan said, and led the pack to their back yard. He opened the orange esky sitting beside the BBQ and handed around a few cold bottles of beer. "You want one?" he asked Lana.

"I'll pass, I've gotta drive tonight."

"Peter can give you a lift home if you want one," Dan suggested, as Flynn arrived, and walked over to his wife's side.

"Oh no, I'm driving to the city tomorrow to pick up my-"

"Would you like an orange juice instead?" Peter asked, heading towards the door.

"That'd be great," she called, and he slipped inside.

After a moment, Peter reappeared with two glasses of orange juice.

"Thanks," she said as he passed her the glass.

"You made a great impression with that basket." He told her "I think Leah will make it a shrine and worship it before she opens or eats any of it." Leah and Sally had gone to bring the food outside, but soon brought it all back in again as the dark sky began to pour.

Before long the party had eaten and Sally was retelling incriminating stories from Leah's past. Just as Sally began the story about Dan and Leah's mothers at Leah's hen's night, the phone rang, and Leah left to answer it.

Dan cleared his throat and called for silence.

"Now I know most couples don't celebrate their 6 month anniversary this way, but we've had a pretty rough time the last six months, and this party is more to celebrate our great friends than anything we've achieved. You're all real champions."

Leah burst into the room, breathless. "There's been an accident… The Blaxland is missing."

* * *

Thankies to my sis for typin' it up for me. If you find any mistakes, they're her fault. lols.

Reviews make ell a happy girl .. They also inspire her to write more... please pick up the hint! Review if you want more! Constructive critisism appreciated!


	2. Chapter 2

Thankies for the review. Here's the next chapter... :) Hope you like. ttfn!

**Chapter two**

Leah burst into the room, breathless. "There's been an accident… The Blaxland is missing."

Tension suddenly filled the party.

"It was Kim, he said that the Blaxland ran into some trouble during the storm, and their radio went out after Alf sent out a mayday message. The Hunter twins, Cassie and Ric were also aboard, He said they'll need as many volunteers to scour the beach as possible…" she paused. "They don't know where they are."

Leah's eyes landed on Sally, who was fighting back tears frightened tears. Silenced reigned for a moment.

Dan cleared his throat. "Leah, Sally, could you stay here 'n' find some blankets?"

Leah nodded, and put her arm around Sally's shoulder comfortingly.

"Peter, Lana, Flynn - we'll go down to the surf club and see if we can help."

Sally and Flynn shared an embrace before he followed Peter, Dan and Lana to Dan's car. They drove to the Surf club as fast as the speed limit would allow.

When they arrived inside the surf club, Kim immediately began assigning them jobs. "Dan, could you stay here with Beth?"

Dan's eyes filled with compassion as they, through the crowds of people in orange vests, found Beth, sitting anxiously, worrying over the fate of her missing children, their friends and Alf.

"Sure," he replied, and left to comfort Beth,

"Flynn, can you come on the search vessel with us?" Flynn nodded. "Grab an orange vest."

"Detective," Kim said. Lana supposed he was referring to Peter. "Grab a vest - you can join the land search party."

Peter and Flynn both grabbed vests and waited for Kim's verdict on Lana.

"Name?" he asked her.

"Lana Sadler." He scribbled it onto a very important looking clip-board.

"Any life-saving experience?"

"Silver medallion - my C.P.R. is out of date, as of last month." She replied, and Kim handed her an orange safety vest, and ticked beside her name.

"We need as much experience as we can get," he stated. "Are you new in town?"

"Yeah, moved in last week - I'm teaching drama at Summer Bay High."

Kim smiled and then climbed onto the bench. "Can I have your attention please? Thank you. Everyone coming on the rescue vessel make sure you have a life vest and head out to the jetty. The rest of you will be allocated jobs outside."

Two large, white boats were tied to the jetty. Flynn, Peter and Lane all followed Kim to the jetty. Lana pulled the fluro orange vest over her head - it was dusty, like it hadn't been worn in a while, and she sneezed.

A tall man wearing an orange jump-suit stood at the end of the jetty and addressed the search party; "Okay, those of you who have been instructed to go on the boats op on now."

Flynn and about twenty other orange vest wearing people headed to the boats.

"The rest of you, I need you to get into teams of five, appoint a leader and send them to me to get supplies."

The cloud of orange vested volunteers burst into noise. Peter grabbed Lana's arm. They made a group of five with Jack, Tasha and Robbie. Pete, who was elected leader, got their supplies; five flashlights, two walkie-talkie radios, a map of the coastline, with a section highlighted, a disposable raincoat for each team member and a first aid kit.

"As you may notice," the man in the orange suit said when all the groups had bee formed, "the map you've been given has a section of the coastline highlighted. This is the area your group is assigned to patrol until you're notified to stop, via" - he held the walkie-talkie radio into the air - "This. If you come across any sign of the missing persons or missing vessel, notify head base using your radio."

Tasha held Robbie in her arms. She could feel his anxiety - his younger brother and sister were missing, feared dead. It was only an hour ago that they were supposed to have safely arrived on the jetty where they Tasha was now standing. All Robbie wanted to do was go, go and find them, all safe, secure healthy, not a scratch or bruise to speak of. But he knew how unlikely that was to happen.

They were dismissed, and followed Jack into the car park where they got into his unmarked cop car and drove to their designated patrol area.

The beach was bare. Jack, Robbie and Tasha took their flashlights, walkie-talkie radio and rain-coat and started to search the southern half of their area.

"Are you okay?" Tasha asked Robbie after walking in silence for a few minutes. Jack trailed behind them, looking out to sea.

Robbie laughed. "Am I okay?"

"I suppose that's a bad question." she said. "Do you want to talk?"

"Not really." He replied to his wife.

Robbie and Tasha had eloped just over six months ago. A month into their marriage, Tasha fell pregnant; her belly was now a rounded shape - the bright orange safety vest was hardly big enough to fit around her.

Both Robbie and Tasha had pulled out of school with a term remaining when they found out about Tasha's pregnancy; although Tasha's investments were enough to support them in the meantime, they decided that they wanted to save as much as they could to buy a house to raise their child in, so Robbie took a full time position as a personal assistant to one of Josie's acquaintances in Yabbie Creek.

However, Robbie regretted leaving school, and after discussion with Tasha, quit his job and re-enrolled at Summer Bay High to finish grade twelve and earn his H.S.C.

"You're so brave," Tasha whispered, comfortingly touching her husband's face.

Behind them, Jack's eyes searched the water before him. The full moon lit the water slightly, and from what he could see, there was nothing disturbing it.

In front of him Tasha was hugging Robbie around the middle. It made him long for Martha, who was probably still at the surf club, worrying about Alf. He should've stayed up there to reassure her… Too late now.

"Is anyone there?" Peter called as he stopped jogging.

"Matilda, Henry!" Lana yelled, catching up, her two 1/2 inch black stilettos swinging in her hand. "Ric! Cassie!"

They had been searching for ten minutes, but hadn't found a trace of the Blaxland or any of its passengers.

Peter looked out over the ocean. Nothing. Lana kept walking, the cool sand beneath her feet, then she climbed onto the rocks. She shone her flashlight out to sea. Nothing. She shone it onto the rocks in front of her. Nothing. She shone it on the sand on the other side of the rocks blow her - "Peter!"

Lana covered her mouth.

"What is it?"

Lana pointed down to the unconscious body lying in the bloodstained sand below her.

"It's- It's," she whispered, fearfully, "Cassie."

"Yes, it's Cassie." Peter spoke into the radio. "Looks like a head wound, her arm may be broken… Unconscious… Yes, we've searched the surrounding area and found no sign of any of the others…"

There was a lot of blood. Cassie's face was bloodstained; her nose was bleeding, blood trickled from the corner of her mouth and from a deep cut in her forehead. The sleeve of her shirt, which was once blue, was now drenched in blood.

Lana was sitting beside her, checking her pulse; it was slow and weak, and she was starting to get cold. Lana found it hard to imagine that this girl who was now fighting for her life was the same girl she taught three days ago; so full of energy and life.

"The medics will be here in a few minutes," Peter told her and jumped off the rock to join her. "How is she?"

"Her pulse is the same, she's still breathing. I think she must've swam in and then hit her head on the rocks, knocking her unconscious. If not, it's a miracle, she's still breathing." Lana said, brushing some, bloody, sandy strands of hair from Cassie's face and tucking them behind her ear. "The poor thing… They said when I was doing my first aid course that lots of blood usually means the injury isn't too severe, I hope that's the case here."

"Peter! Lana!" they heard a voice call from behind the rocks.

"We're down here!" Peter yelled. "Cassie's down here!"

It was Jack. In his arms her cradled Matilda.

"She was conscious when we found her. She said that Ric was helping Mr. Stewart and then she passed out. I would have radioed you, but our batteries are flat or something."

Peter grabbed the walkie-talkie radio. "We've found Matilda Hunter. I repeat, we've found Matilda Hunter."

Light shone strongly from behind the rocks. "Peter?"

The voice belonged to Flynn, who was followed by a group of paramedics, who scooped Matilda out of Jack's arms and took her to the nearby ambulance.

Flynn jumped down of the rocks and rushed to Cassie's aid. Muttering to himself, he took her pulse and checked for injuries, before letting the paramedics lift her onto a stretcher and take her to the ambulance.

"Will she be okay?" Lana asked Flynn as he turned to follow the stretcher.

"She should be. She's broken her arm and lost a bit of blood, but her head injury doesn't seem critical. We'll run some tests when we get to the hospital."

He turned to join the paramedics when Lana said "It was nice meeting you, Flynn, I hope I see more of you in the future."

Flynn paused and smiled. "Yeah. I hope so too." He replied, and got in the ambulance, and drove into the distance as Tasha and Robbie arrived on the rocks.

The sky, filled with clouds once again started to unleash heavy water droplets, and erupted in lightning and thunder for the second time that night. Kim and Lana pulled out their plastic raincoats, and put them on.

"Everyone's been found." Peter announced from behind Lana and Kim. "They found Ric and Mr. Stewart off shore, Henry was found by another group just north of us washed up on shore. They're all going to be admitted to hospital overnight, but they said there are no serious injuries."

"So…"

"We can go home." Peter smiled with relief.

When all of the equipment had been given to Jack, Peter and Lana started walking over the hill to Leah and Dan's house.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note: **Please review! I'm seriously desperate for feedback!

**Chapter three**

It wasn't long after Lana put her plastic raincoat on that she realized it wasn't terribly good at protecting her from the rain, which wasn't coming down in bucket loads, unless the buckets were the size of swimming pools. She was saturated, as she followed Peter down the path that lead to Leah and Dan's house. Nothing could be heard over the rain but the odd crack of thunder or splash of a foot in a muddy puddle. No words were uttered between Lana and Peter except the occasional "this was" or curse to the weather.

Walking barefoot, her stiletto heels hanging from her fingers, Lana's feet were covered in mud, and Lana, being just a smidgen clumsy, fell -splash- face first into a great puddle of watery-brown mud, which covered practically all of her. The raincoat wasn't terribly good at protecting her from mud either.

In fact, the plastic disposable raincoat, which was much like a garbage bag with arm holes and a hood, wasn't very good for much at all. Not even sitting there and looking pretty, a skill even a shovel-nosed lobster can manage in the right light.

"Lana, are you alright?" Peter asked, water pelting on his back and dripping off his nose.

Lana pulled herself out of the puddle and wiped the watery brown mud off her face. She attempted to stand, however, when she did, she discovered that she had twisted her ankle during her fall and that it was terribly painful to stand on.

"Yowch!" she exclaimed as she wobbled onto her uninjured right leg, and Peter grabbed her hips to stable her.

"Here," Peter said, putting his very wet are under her arm and around her back to support her weight. Her warmth surprised him.

Lana rested her arm on Peter's shoulder, and hobbled along for the rest of the journey, rain pouring down, clothes saturated in water and mud and sticking to their skin.

The relief they felt when they arrived at their destination was such that even a great writer such as I could not express it in writing. However, this writer prides herself on her undeniable talent and skill in the art of interpretive dance, and would quite happily perform to explain this expression of relief Peter and Lana felt, but I'm sure that you, the reader, would much rather know what happens next than to watch me perform an interpretive dance. Your loss, I suppose.

"Lana! Peter!" Leah said as her saturated friend and brother-in-law came through their front door. "You're soaked!"

They stared at her blankly.

"I wouldn't want to be driving in this weather," Dan said entering the kitchen. His eyes widened as they fell on his co-worker and his brother standing in the doorway. "You, walked?"

"Yes," Peter replied, dripping on the wooden floor. "It wasn't raining when we started."

Now, no one who knew Dan Baker well would ever describe him as "scheming". However, on rare occasions a delicious plot would form in his head, one too delightful and appetizing to push to the back of his brain.

One-thirty that Sunday morning, one of these rare delicacies found its way into Dan's thoughts, as he stared at his saturated detective brother and mud-drenched, wet workmate.

Dan knew that Peter hadn't had a girlfriend since Claire left him three months ago and that he was feeling a little on the lonely side. He also knew that Lana, new to Summer Bay without many contacts and friends in the small beachside town was also feeling a little lonely.

One plus one makes two, Dan thought.

"Well come on in and we'll get you two cleaned up," Leah said, ushering them into the kitchen. Lana pulled the wet, mud covered plastic disposable raincoat over her head to reveal a just-as-wet mud-covered once-baby-pink holter-top and saturated brown ruffle skirt. "We'll get you cleaned up and you can go home straight away."

"Oh no," Dan said, putting his scheme into action."I wouldn't drive in this weather, it's far too dangerous."

Leah raised an eyebrow. Since when did her husband use the phrase -"far too"?

"Well, it is dangerous but I've had training-"

"And I've got to go to the city tomorrow to-"

"-The roads won't be busy-"

Dan cleared his throat. "Look, it's too late for you to be driving, you're both too tired, and it's too dangerous to drive when you're about to nod off, and especially in this rain. Now you can both have a shower, we'll lend you some pajamas and we'll clean you clothes for tomorrow. If we unfold the futon you can both sleep on there."

Lana was hesitant. "Are you sure?"

"It's no problem." Leah assured her.

"Well, if you're sure."

Peter and Dan disappeared and Leah busied herself finding a towel and an icepack for Lana's ankle and making hot chocolates for them all.

"Could I borrow your phone for a while? I just need to call my sister in the city to check up on Skye."

"Skye?"

"Yeah, my daughter." The look on Leah's face asked for more information. "She's fifteen. My sister Holly has just taken her up to Queensland and they're finishing their trip tonight with an all night movie marathon. I'm sure Skye will be fine, it's just I told her I'd call her tonight -"

"Sure," Leah answered with a smile, handing her the telephone. A teenage daughter? Lana had a teenage daughter? She supposed Dan had just forgotten to mention it. But Lana was only twenty- twenty-nine. She must've fallen pregnant at fourteen.

Lana dialed her sister's number into the phone. It rang thrice before being picked up.

"Yo, it's Holly."

"Holly?"

"That's what I said. How ya doin' Lana? It's a bit past your bedtime, isn't it?"

"Big night," Lana replied, exhaustedly. "Can I talk to Sky?"

"I dunno, I'll have to tear her away from the TV; she's currently glued to the screen by her own drool - Orlando Bloom marathon. We're watching pirates of the Caribbean now."

"Well that explains it." Lana replied, and heard the phone being passed to her daughter.

"Hey Ma," a chirpy voice said on the other end of the line. "I was expecting you to call a little earlier than this."

"Yeah, I was too. There was this accident with some of the kids that are gonna be in your grade, but it's okay, they're all alright."

"Did you go to that party you were telling me about?"

"Yeah," Lana explained the last eight hour's drama to her daughter who was eagerly listening two-hundred kilometres away. "And now I'm standing on one leg in Leah's kitchen, wrapped in a towel and covered in mud."

"Wow. My Mum's a hero." Skye said and laughed. "Anyhoo, Orlando's waiting for me Mum. I'll see you at around lunch time tomorrow, okay."

"Okay. Have fun."

"I'm sure I will."

"Love you."

"Love you too, Mum."

"Bye."

"Bye Mum."

Lana hung up the phone and smiled as Leah handed her a steaming mug of hot chocolate, white and pink marshmallows bobbing on the surface, and an ice pack wrapped in a tea-towel. "Thanks."

"The showers free," Peter announced, entering the kitchen in a pair of borrowed blue and white striped pajama pants and a white sleeveless singlet. Lana was impressed by what she saw.

Leah handed him a steaming mug of hot chocolate and he thanked her.

"Let's get you some pajamas," Leah said, guiding Lana to her and Dan's bedroom.

Leah opened the top drawer of her chest of drawers and searched through it to eventually find a pair of pink flannelette pajamas with blue love hearts on them. "These should fit and be warm enough."

"Thanks a billion, Leah," Lana replied and took the soft, bright pink and blue pajamas from her. "These should be fine… That's the bathroom just across the hall I presume?"

"Yeah. Go for it." Leah replied as Lana hobbled out of the room and Dan entered it.

"Are you sure the futon would be comfortable enough for them?" Leah asked pulling her own pajamas out from under her pillow and pulling up the doona on the bed. "Couldn't we find somewhere a little less, lumpy?"

Dan smiled, "Im sure they'll be fine."

The futon in Dan and Leah's lounge room was a must have item for any wannabe cupid, as, during the night, it bends in the middle, causing the unsuspecting victims to become… much better acquainted. It was a crafty, sneaky plan, and as Dan smiled and sipped his hot chocolate he was pleased that he was making such a cunning plan into reality.

"You never mentioned that Lana has a daughter?" Leah said as casually as she could manage.

"Yeah-oh-yeah." This fact had slipped his mind, and made matters more complicated. Lana had mentioned her daughter earlier in the week, but she hadn't come up in the conversation since, mainly due to the fact that Lana had had no spare lessons on Sunday and only one on Thursday and Dan had hardly spoken her at all on those days. "I thought I mentioned it. Must've slipped my mind…"

Meanwhile, Dan's older brother Peter was leaning against the wall beside Dan and Leah's bedroom door. It was only when the bathroom fogged up that he realized how easily he could've peered straight in and have seen Dan's workmate, Lana, undress.

From the moment he saw Lana, Peter had felt attracted to her; she had a nice figure, pretty face, long brown hair. As the night had progressed he'd seen glimpses of her personality; he'd seen how willing she was to spring into action as soon as she was needed, how she was so caring and motherly to the unconscious Cassie on the beach, the way she didn't complain at all when she hurt her ankle and fell in the mud. These gave him the impression that she was willing to work, courageous, caring, compassionate and brave. All traits he found highly attractive.

"Peter"

"Huh?" he flicked his head around to face his brother.

"Come help me unfold the futon."

"Yeah, okay."

* * *

Next chapter: some one very unwanted arrives in the bay...

Oooh! I wonder who it is?


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Dan sat at his kitchen table, smiling to himself, watching the sunlight slowly rise over the two sleeping figures on his futon. It had bent in the middle, just as he had hoped it would, causing the two unsuspecting victims of his matchmaking to be found lying like so; Peter, with the pleasant smell of strawberry shampoo filling his nostrils, lying on his back with the left half of Lana on top of his right side, facing the kitchen, his hand resting on her arm.

Lana was the first to awake. She blinked, light filling her sight, rubbed her eyes, then, realizing Pete's hand on her arm, she brushed it off quickly and moved herself to "her side" of the futon.

"Good morning!"

"Ah-!" She squealed, surprised that there was anyone awake nearby. "Oh, you - er - made me jump a little there, Dan. Good morning to you too!"

Peter groaned deeply in his sleep and rolled over onto his side.

"Sleep well?" Dan asked, biting into a piece of toast and trying to wipe the evil smirk off his face.

"Er, yes," Lana said, sitting up. "Pretty well, thanks for asking."

"Hope that brother of mine didn't keep you up all night."

"Nope."

Peter mumbled something into the pillow he was sleeping on.

"Well that's good." Dan said, trying to look as innocent as he could.

Lana got off the futon and helped herself to a share of the large plate of toast in the centre of the table.

"Leah's cooking up bacon and eggs as we speak" Dan said as Peter began to wake.

"What time is it?" he asked, trying to block the light from his view.

"Quarter to nine."

"Quarter to nine?" Lana exclaimed, in a state of panic. Dan nodded. "I've got to be in the City by twelve!"

Meanwhile, on the other side of Summer Bay…

A black stretch limousine pulled up outside an apartment block. The door was opened and a long, tanned slender leg wearing a red stiletto shoe lead a beautiful, blond-haired woman out of the car. She wore a red cocktail length dress with a plunging neckline and she carried a matching red handbag in hare hand. She was followed out of the car by a short blond boy, about seven or eight years of age.

"Beth!" Barry Hyde called to the woman walking out of the surf club. "Beth!"

"Yes?" she said, turning to face him.

"I need to ask a - no wait. First, how are Matilda and Henry?"

"Oh, they're okay. Gave me a right scare though. Cassie broke her leg, but she'll be out of hospital tomorrow morning; I wouldn't expect her at school very soon though."

"Yes, well, I'm glad to hear Matilda and Henry are in good health." He said quickly and changed the subject; "Beth, I need a favour."

"A favour?" Of course Barry, what is it?"

"Now, I wouldn't ask unless I had to Beth, but - it's a desperate situation I've gotten myself into-"

"Desperate?"

"Yes, and very much so." Beth gave him a quizzical look. "As you know, Summer Bay High has accepted dance as a board registered subject for the first time this year."

"Yes, of course, Matilda and Henry are taking it, that's the only reason why Henry's come back from boarding school."

"But you see, our dance teacher is coming from the city tomorrow morning, and it seems the accommodation we had arranged for her wasn't as arranged as we thought."

"Oh." She replied. "Oh, I see."

"I- I'm desperate Beth."

"I can see that. Of course, of course she can stay with us. I'm sure Mattie and Henry wouldn't mind. I'll clean out the flat this afternoon."

"Beth, I could kiss you!"

* * *

A/N hey there, sorry this chap was so short compared to the others...

Y'all, I've got lots of hits on this story but very little feedback. Flame me, I don't really care, I'd just like to know what you think. Please. Please.  
O please o please o please


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Skye's backpack was heavy; full of text books and notebooks, pens pencils, paper, folders, a stapler and her lunch. Her mother lugged it up the stairs, following Skye to her locker.

"Here it is! Number 462!" Skye said cheerfully.

"Good." Lana sighed with relief as she pulled the backpack from her shoulders. "Now, I've got to hop off to my form class. You know where my office is if you need me."

"Yes mum."

"Have a good day."

"I will."

Lana pulled her daughter into a hug and kissed her on the cheek.

"Mum, don't embarrass me!"

"Mum, don't embarrass me!" Lana mimicked. "Okay schnooky wook 'ems, Don't forget to wear your hat when you go to play lunch my beautiful bubby girly wirly!" She shifted the shoulder strap of her laptop and headed down the stairs.

Skye turned to her locker and pulled out a scrap of paper on which her locker's key was written. Three turns anti clockwise… 29… and one clockwise before 12…. Then back to 3. Click.

She opened the large metal locker. A section for your bag, hat, books. An amnesty international sticker, on the inside of the door, it's corners peeling off. Smells sickly sweet like cheap deodorant. In went her terrifyingly big biology text book, and two smaller yet just as terrifying biology workbooks. Then the good old dictionary and thesaurus, her maths, English and ancient history textbooks, her note-book with sections for each subject and her drama text book. She took a roll of sticky tape out of her pencil case, zipped it up and chucked it into her locker as well. She taped her timetable onto the inside of her locker door, just above the second hand sticker. She shoved her bag and hat inside her locker, closed the door and locked it.

Smack.

"Ow!"

"What?"

Skye looked down at her finger- blood was rushing to them and gradually, they were swelling.

"Maybe you should watch where you put your fingers next time."

"I think I will." _You cow! _She thought. _I'll show you a finger!_

Skye later found out that the girl who used the locker beside hers and who was responsible for her throbbing fingers was Matilda Hunter, who wasn't having a very good day, and unfortunately had made a very bad first impression.

"Excuse me," Skye asked a tall, blond boy who was walking past. "Could you point me in the direction of the nurse's office?"

"Yeah, sure," he said, looking at Skye's injured fingers as if they were from another planet. "Go down this corridor until you see a water bubbler. Take a left there and the third door on the right is sick bay, it has sick bay written on the door, it's pretty hard to miss."

"Thank you."

"No problem. I hope your fingers get better."

Skye would late learn that that tall blonde haired boy who just gave her directions was Lucas Holden, Matilda Hunter's next-door-neighbour and boyfriend. She would learn that he came to Summer Bay last year, in the middle of third term and that he moved there with his brother and father (who was the physical education teacher.)

Skye walked down the long corridor, passing countless classrooms buzzing with gossiping girls until she found the water fountain and took a left.

He was right. Sick Bay was very hard to miss. With her good hand, Skye knocked on the door.

"Come on in dear," said a short, hunched over woman with white, permed hair and a large, hairy mole on the side of her neck. Her large, wounded square glasses were thick as planks and large enough to have their own president.

In sick bay there was also a boy who looked at least two years older than Skye. He had brown hair and glasses and a look on his face that spelt nausea in big green flashing letters.

"What's wrong sweet heart?" Skye's eyes flickered back to the little old woman.

"I've hurt my hand."

"Let me take a look dear." She took Skye's hand in her own and she squinted, then her eyes

widened.

"Can you bend them?" Skye bent them only the tiniest bit, causing her a large amount of pain.

"It hurts." She replied. "A lot."

"I think they may be broken, I broke two on my other hand last year when I was playing cricket." Skye mentioned to the nurse who was looking at the now very swollen fingers at many different angles.

"I think you might be right." The nurse replied. "Now put your hand on your shoulder, that's right. I'll get some ice for you. Now take a seat sweetheart, it won't be a minute."

The nurse waddled into a small room at the back of the main room. Skye realized at the moment how strongly the room smelt of disinfectant.

"I've never seen you around, are you new?" the nauseas teen asked.

"Yeah, today's my first day."

"What a way to start at a new school!" He replied. "I'm Robbie."

"Hi, Robbie. I'm Skye Sadler." She replied. "You don't look well."

"I don't feel well either, unfortunately… You're of no relation to the new drama teacher by any chance?"

"She's my mum."

"Really?" he said, and then after a thought or two, continued; "Oh, I see it now. Yeah, you can tell."

The nurse reappeared with a large bag of ice wrapped in a tea towel. "Put this on your fingers, dear."

Skye's fingers were now the width of cheerios, that is, the party food, dip in tomato sauce type, not the breakfast cereal. They were blotchy and red and were causing her a lot of pain.

"Now, I have some calls to make, so you two stay in here," the nurse told them. "If you need me I'll be in there okay?" she waddled into the small room and slammed the door behind her.

"How'd you do it?" Robbie asked, watching Skye cringe as she put the ice gently onto her fingers.

"The girl in the locker next to mine slammed her locker on my fingers."

"Ouch. What's her locker number? I'll giver her a detention if you want."

"463, but pass on the detention."

Robbie laughed. "That's my sister's locker! Please, allow me the pleasure of a legitimate reason to give her a detention, I'll be forever grateful…. Did she apologize?"

"No. Told me to watch where I put my fingers next time." Skye explained bitterly.

"Ooh. I see you met her when she was in a bad mood. She's in them quite often. Especially since - well, Mr. Hyde asked my Mum if out granny flat, which Matti had her heart set on moving into, could be rented out to the new dance teacher until they could find a more permanent place for her. Apparently she'd already started to unpack her stuff in there and everything."

"I s'pose that's make me a little annoyed too."

"She wasn't very happy about it, apparently."

"Apparently?"

"I don't live with them anymore. I share a flat with my wife, Tasha."

"Wife?" Skye blurted out, instantly regretting it. "I, er, I beg your pardon, I'm sorry I didn't mean offence - "

"Oh no, don't worry about it, we get that reaction quite often." He said, with an uneasy smile. He thought of Tasha, he would swear her 'bump' was growing each day.

Skye and Robbie sat in the nurse's office until the end of that period. They talked about music, things to do in Summer Bay, and Robbie asked her if she'd like to meet some of the locals some times. She replied with a yes, just as the bell rang.

And just as Lana burst through the door.

"Are you okay Skye?" she puffed, sweat droplets on her brow.

"Mum!"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, of course I am!" she replied. "I just hurt my fingers is all… Did you just run all the way from the performing arts block?"

"Sprinted." She bent over to catch her breath. Her ankle, which she'd injured on Saturday night had since healed, and she figured she mustn't have hurt to too bad. "Sister said something about a broken finger?"

The nurse reappeared grandly. "Possibly two."

She took the ice off Skye's hand and inspected the fingers, "The swellings gone down a bit… Hmm… Which hand do you write with?"

"My right." She said, looking down at it; broken, swollen, painful.

"What lesson do you have now?"

"Biology."

"Well that's no good." The nurse announced. "I think you should go home dear." She turned to Lana. "Can you take her home?"

"I have a class starting in two minutes." She replied, just as Dan walked past the nurse's office. "Oi! Dan!"

"Yeah?"

"You have a spare now, don't you?"

"That I do."

"Good man, brilliant man, wonderful man," Lana stated. "I need a favour."

Dan walked into sick bay.

"How bad d'you need it?

"I'll do anything," Lana replied, and a cheeky grin grew on Dan's face. "Okay, almost anything. I need someone to drive Skye home. She's hurt her hand and I haven't got any time I could take her home - I've got classes the rest of the day and duty at lunch and-"

Dan's eyes widened as the fell on Skye's swollen, purple-turning fingers. "Sure, sure. I'll take her home.

"Thank you, thank you so much Dan." Lana said, looking at her watch and then taking off down the corridor. "I owe you!"

"You owe me big time!" he called as she disappeared around a corner, running to the performing arts block.

Dan smiled at Skye. "I'm Dan, well, Mr. Baker during school hours."

"Gives a great contraception talk." Robbie added.

Dan blushed. "Counselor." He explained, and Skye nodded, understanding. "I'm parked just out here."

"See ya Robbie," Skye called behind her, following Dan out to the car park.

"I'll get your mum to get your bag for you," Skye handed him her locker combination so he could give it to her mum. Dan unlocked the car and Skye hopped into the passenger seat and strapped herself in.

"Mum went to a party at your place on Saturday night, didn't she?" Skye asked as Dan started to reverse out of the car park.

"Yeah. Unfortunately it was interrupted-"

"Mum told me. I'm glad nobody was too badly hurt."

"Me too."

"Mum told me all about it yesterday when she we drove here from the city." Skye began. "She sounds like she had a great time; she's really glad she's gotten to make friends so quickly. She was feeling a bit lonely last week."

"I know. Well, I'm glad I helped." Dan smiled. "Left here?"

"Yeah, and then its right, I think."

"What else did she say?"

"She told me all about your brother," Skye said, and Dan restrained a grin from growing on his lips. "Said he was a real nice bloke. She said Leah was really lovely too." She added quickly. "I think she's really glad we moved here."

"Is this it?"

"Yeah."

Dan turned into the driveway of the "paradise" apartment building. "Are you okay to go in by yourself?"

"Yeah. Thanks Mr. Baker."

"No problem."

After opening a series of doors and turning a key using her left hand, which was challenging in itself, not to mention really awkward and strange to do, Skye reached the flat she shared with her mother. There were cardboard boxes all over the floor, and a number of drama textbooks and plays sprawled across the kitchen table.

What a way to start grade eleven.

So that's the next chapter. Erm, from here on in its really not focused on one or even one group of characters - I've tried to incorporate most of the current characters, with a style of writing much like as if you were watching an episode of H&A.

Please R&R!


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